“Make vodka for the poor – social vodka, mass vodka, whatever you want to call it – for 100 rubles, and the problem with the sale of illegal alcohol will be solved,” said Vadim Drobiz, director of the Russian Center for Research of Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (CIFRRA).
He noted that the minimum cost of a bottle of this strong drink in stores across the country is 300 rubles, and on the illegal market – 100 rubles.
According to him, “every day” clandestine factories for the production of alcoholic beverages and illegal points of sale are found in Russia. However, given the high prices for these products, it is useless to fight the illegal market using economic methods until the level of the minimum wage in the country reaches 35-40 thousand rubles, Drobiz believes.
In this regard, he called for taking the example of Europe, where legal alcohol is available to all segments of the population without exception: for example, in most EU countries you can buy a bottle of wine for 1-1.5 euros, despite the fact that unemployment benefits are 700-800 euros .
According to the auditing and consulting network FinExpertiza, in 2023, sales of strong alcoholic beverages in Russia increased to 7.2 liters per capita and reached a maximum in the last seven years. At the same time, vodka is the most popular: its consumption is 5.3 liters per person per year.
Rosalkogoltabakcontrol also confirmed the growth of sales of alcoholic beverages in Russia in 2023. Excluding beer, cider and mead, Russians bought 229.5 million deciliters (2.3 billion liters) of such products in stores, which is 4.1% more than in the record year of 2022.
After the start of the war with Ukraine, Rosstat recorded an increase in the number of Russians diagnosed with alcohol addiction. A total of 54.2 thousand such patients were identified. Of these, 12.9 thousand people have alcoholic psychosis (accompanied by hallucinations, sleep disturbances and other symptoms).
The head of the Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, noted that almost every fourth patient in Russian hospitals has health problems associated with drinking alcohol, and according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was cited in the State Duma, more than a quarter of crimes in the country are committed while intoxicated.
In December, the government approved the concept of reducing alcohol consumption until 2030. It is expected that in 6 years, on average, Russians will drink no more than 7.8 liters of ethanol per year, which is equivalent to three and a half-liter bottles of vodka per month. Currently, this figure is 8.9 liters per year, which is equivalent to almost four bottles per month.
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2024-04-03 09:55:50
